


After 03x04 (The Scheherazade Job)

by PseudoLeigha



Series: (More) 2AM Conversations [34]
Category: Leverage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-10 22:56:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7864735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PseudoLeigha/pseuds/PseudoLeigha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sophie and Alec discuss Nate's hypnotizing Alec.<br/>Alec’s POV</p>
            </blockquote>





	After 03x04 (The Scheherazade Job)

It was late when she knocked on his door. She still looked perfectly put-together. He was in his comfy pants and pajama shirt. He had been killing time, dinking around with some old code, not doing much, just cleaning it up. Mindless stuff. Trying not to think about… about _that_.

It had been bad enough that Parker had refused to believe that he could play like that, when he was so high on goddamn _killing it_ , getting himself back to soloist condition in a matter of _days_ , after not having _touched_ a violin in _years_ , and then Nate had to pull the _fucking_ rug out from under him. Twice.

If hypnotizing someone without their knowledge wasn’t conning your own team, he didn’t know what was.

And then he’d had the goddamn _nerve_ to say that he, Alec, didn’t have what it took to run his own team because he wasn’t willing to pull shit like that on his own people!

Normally, he didn’t have a problem with Nate, but sometimes he could be a world class dick.

In fact, the only person on the team whom he wasn’t currently at least a little irritated with was Eliot, so he wasn’t altogether pleased to see Sophie knocking at his door at half-past two, asking, “Can I come in?”

He should have said, ‘no.’

He should have said, ‘helping Nate con the team ain’t any better than doin’ it yourself.’

But she said, “Parker followed you out, and so did I,” and he stepped out of the way, held the door for her like his Nana had taught him to do.

Nana definitely hadn’t taught him that it was polite to sit on the couch, glaring at your guests until they explained themselves, but he did that, too.

“I’m sorry,” she said, after a perfectly-timed, just-shy-of-too-long moment of silence. Then there was another beat. “I didn’t know what he was doing until after he’d done it.”

“You shoulda told me!” he exploded at her. “As soon as you knew, you shoulda told me! Keepin’ this kin’a thing t’ you’self’s just as bad as lyin’ about it outrigh’! It ain’t _right_ , _Laura_.” He put as much scorn as he could muster into the reminder of her habit of keeping secrets, twisting the word until her name sounded like the worst of insults.

“ _Alec_ ,” she said, her voice full of too-sincere-to-be-real remorse, and just a hint of condescending authority. “I’m not saying it was, I’m just saying that –”

“No, man, you don’ get to defend this shit! You don’ get to tell me how Nate wasn’ really outta line, or how it was okay ‘cause it needed to be done, and I was the _best candidate_. You knew, an’ you didn’ tell me. So maybe you can tell me this: how is this any differn’ than that shit we pulled back inna beginnin’ with that Order 23 guy? Or makin’ Fuckin’ Rand think Tara was psychic? It’s all fuckin’ mind games, man!”

Sophie sighed heavily, as though to say, ‘ _Are you done, yet?_ ’ Then she repeated herself. “I’m not saying it was right, Alec. I’m just saying that it wasn’t _fake_.”

“The hell is that s’posta mean?” he muttered, glaring at her.

“It just means, well… everything that happened up on that stage was you. Alec Hardison. Not the hypnosis. Bloody hell, the _process_ of hypnosis only _works_ if _you_ want it to! Nate might have helped you remember what it felt like to play, helped you _focus_ , to _be less afraid_ , he walked you through reaching that mental state, but he didn’t give you any skills. That’s not how hypnosis _works._ That solo was all you, and you were _good_ , Alec. You were _amazing_.”

Alec snorted.

“I’m serious!” she said, sounding offended.

“You didn’ answer my question, though. How’s this differen’ from pullin’ a job on a mark?”

She rolled her eyes. “I did, though. That _is_ the difference. When we play a mark, we’re forcing him to believe a lie, forcing him to doubt the evidence of his senses or logic, manipulating him into doing something he doesn’t want to do. I’m not saying I agree with what Nate did, but it was more like…” Her hands fluttered helplessly for a moment as she searched for the right word. “More like a placebo. You know, when a doctor gives you a sugar pill, and –”

“Yes! I _know_ what a placebo is, Sophie!” he snapped.

“Yes, well, it’s like that. He asked you to forget that you had been hypnotized because you didn’t need to think about it – it would have been counter-productive, drawing your attention to the very thing it was supposed to stop you thinking about. Like… like walking a tightrope, and looking down to remind yourself there’s a safety net – it only makes you more likely to fall. He could have come up with a better way to tell you afterward, I’ll admit, but it really was only ‘cleaning out the cobwebs.’”

Alec felt himself weakening. Sophie was simply too good at this not-apologizing thing. No! He wasn’t going to let her do it again! “You said you picked me out as the best candidate,” he said, seizing on a reason to refuse to accept her oh-so-reasonable-sounding explanation – the reason he had been angry at her in the first place, as well as Nate and Parker.

“You want to know why?” she asked, with a tiny, wry grin.

“No! I wanna know how you can sit there and say you didn’ _know_ when you were _in on it_ the whole time!”

Sophie sighed. “Alec, he asked me _ages_ ago. We weren’t even on a job! I thought it was just a passing fancy. I didn’t realize he’d picked up the skill until you were off practicing and he was faffing about with that metronome.”

He scrutinized her expression, and couldn’t, for the life of him, tell whether she was lying. _Damn it, Sophie!_ “A’ite, then, why me?” he asked, begrudgingly. Almost belligerently.

“You’re the most empathic person on the team,” she answered promptly. “You’re also the most suited to focusing on sustained mental activities for extended periods of time, you’re mentally flexible, and, well… you’re the most trusting, out of all of us.”

Alec snorted. “So – so not only am I not… not _ruthless_ enough, or whatever, to run my own crew, but I’m the one that trusts y’all, so I’m the one that gets tricked? _Figures_ ,” he spat, still angry at the entire situation.

The grifter rolled her eyes. “If it was just about ruthlessness, _Parker_ would be running the team. It’s about… identifying the skills your people bring to the table, and finding the right way to encourage them to apply them.”

“ _Manipulating them_ , you mean,” he glared. “Us.”

“Is it manipulating you when Parker asks you to make her a new ID? Is it manipulating Eliot when you ask him to cook dinner? Is it manipulating Nate when I convince him to go out with me instead of drinking himself stupid at the bar every night? _Every_ human interaction can be painted as manipulative, Alec, even if the only thing you’re getting out of it is peace of mind.”

“You – you actually think that makes it _better_? ‘Sides, none of that’s the same as fuckin’ with my head – askin’ someone to do somethin’ – at least you got a choice!”

“It really is. Look: even if he didn’t ask, even if he told you it was some kind of relaxation technique, or tricked you into following along, all that was just convincing _your_ mind to do the work of reaching the proper mindset. You _can’t_ be hypnotized if you don’t want to be, any more than Parker can _force_ you to help her.”

That was it. Alec had had enough. “No.”

“No?”

“No. I’m done. I ain’ listenin’ to any more of your bullshit, Sophie. Not tonight. Get out.”

“Wha? But… I…”

If Alec hadn’t been quite so angry, he would have been proud of himself. He had never seen Sophie speechless before.

“I’m done listenin’ to you defend him. I’m done listenin’ to you rationalizin’ and tryin’a convince me this job was all on the up an’ up, playin’ good cop for him an’ keepin’ the peace.” He stood and walked to the door, holding it open, pointedly.

She sighed, and rose gracefully, conceding defeat. “At least think about what I’ve said, won’t you?” she asked as she walked out.

“Good _night_ , Sophie,” he responded, and shut the door in her face, perhaps slightly harder than necessary. He had no intention whatsoever of thinking any more about her or Nate or fucking hypnotism. Not tonight.

But two hours later, when he still couldn’t sleep, couldn’t get her look of disappointment and her parting words out of his head, he retrieved his tablet from the bedside table, and started looking up hypnosis.

Dawn had just broken, and he was still reading, when he finally admitted that maybe, just _maybe_ , she’d had a point. All the articles said that all hypnosis was self-hypnosis.

But he was pretty sure Nate still owed him an apology.


End file.
